1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electronic security systems, and more particularly to electronic security systems for money-containing devices such as parking meters, which must be periodically accessed by a collector in order to retrieve the funds accumulated in the device. While the preferred embodiment will be described with respect to a parking meter configuration, the invention could be used with other devices, such as pay telephones, bill changer machines, fare card machines, or vending machines, where a data collection and storage section of the device is separate from the money-containing vault section of the device.
2. Background and Prior Art
Typically, the collection of money from coin or currency operated devices such as parking meters, pay telephones, transit system fare card machines or the like is a costly and burdensome operation. For instance, a company may own tens or even hundreds of thousands of pay telephones for which tens or hundreds of thousands of keys must be kept in order to prevent the loss of a key from requiring the changing of locks on thousands of devices which would operate with the lost key.
Another problem involved with the collection of funds from currency operated devices is the possibility of fraud or theft by a collector. Typically, a collector should remove a locked coin box from the device and replace it with an empty lock box to which he does not have access. However, it is possible that a removed coin box will not be replaced with another lock box but rather will be replaced with an unlocked receptacle which can be later removed by that collector before turning in his key at the end of the collection shift.
Yet another cost involved in the collection process is the sheer manpower required for the task of distributing, collecting, and keeping track of many thousands of keys on a daily basis.
Another shortcoming in the art pertains to electronic parking meters having coin counting or auditing circuitry for keeping track of the amount of revenue collected by the meter. Such meters have separate upper (i.e. meter) and lower (i.e. coin vault) housings, wherein coins are fed into the upper housing, pass through a coin identification mechanism, and drop into a secure coin box or vault located in a locked lower housing. The upper housing has a coin counting/auditing circuit (typically provided on a circuit board) coupled to the coin identification mechanism, and stores information relating to the count of coins received since the last time the device was emptied. The coin counting/auditing circuit communicates inserted coin information to a meter circuit, which adds time to the meter in response to the monetary amount of coins inserted into the meter, according to a preprogrammed algorithm which specifies the number of minutes added for each domination of coin. The meter circuit typically is coupled to a display or other visual indicator that displays the amount of time remaining on the meter. The lower housing includes an electronic lock mechanism for interfacing with an electronic key system for accessing the coin vault.
In such systems, the coin audit information is retrieved from the electronic circuitry in the upper housing either by radio frequency transmission from the circuit in the upper housing to a separate handheld receiver device, or by transferring the information to a xe2x80x9csmartxe2x80x9d card inserted into a card slot provided in the upper housing. Alternatively, the circuitry in the upper housing may be wire-connected to the electronic lock circuitry within the lower housing containing the coin vault. Coin count information is passed from the circuit board in the upper housing to the lower housing by a flexible wire conductor hard-wired between the two circuit boards, from where it is sent to a handheld electronic key device once authorization has been verified. In such systems, a xe2x80x9cliving hingexe2x80x9d was created by a flexible wire between the two housings, and thus presented a poor design from an engineering and security viewpoint. Problems encountered with this system include frequent damage to the flexible wiring, due to pinching of the wiring between the door and the vault and due to wear from continued opening and closing of the door.
Parking meters typically are located on the streets of major cities, and are subject to vandalism and break-in attempts. The construction of prior art vault doors rendered them readily subject to such attacks by using simple tools such as a hammer and driver or chisel to punch the lock cylinder into the door and thereby gain access to the vault.
The electronics in the meter stores a large amount of data in addition to collected coin information. For example, the meter circuitry may store its status, meter identification information, zone information, e-cash purchase information, and profile data. It would be desirable to enable such data to be modified in the meter without the necessity of replacing the meter circuitry.
Although electronic security systems are known and have been used for various purposes, see e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,789,859, 4,738,334, 4,697,171, 4,438,426, applicants are unaware of any which specifically address the problems noted above. An example of a prior art vending machine including coin count audit information circuitry is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,442.
The present invention provides an electronic security system which overcomes the problems mentioned above and significantly reduces collection costs.